melksham was amongst the fittest players on our list - every chance to play on in 2025 if he and the club can come to an agreement

yr a long time retired after all...

anyway, unfortunately i agree with @middleagedemon - i think we're on a hiding to nothing this week; the line of 29.5 looks pretty generous...to them

mind you, i tipped north last week, so what would i know...other than that my mfcss is STRONG

Last night I dreamt the score at 3/4 time was 225-200 in our favour. I thought typical, we score this highly and still only 4 goals up. 

Also thought that would be a lot of time on. 

Lions are in red hot form  (lost 1 of past 7)

Even if we were playing well I would think the Lions will win  (Dees lost 4 of last 6)

So I can't imagine anything but a 10 goal belting

I haven't said that for a long time which has been nice

1 hour ago, whatwhat say what said:

melksham was amongst the fittest players on our list - every chance to play on in 2025 if he and the club can come to an agreement

yr a long time retired after all...

anyway, unfortunately i agree with @middleagedemon - i think we're on a hiding to nothing this week; the line of 29.5 looks pretty generous...to them

mind you, i tipped north last week, so what would i know...other than that my mfcss is STRONG

Would definitely give him another 12 months if he wanted to go on.

We will have a decent amount of turnover this year anyway with likely/confirmed departures of: Brayshaw, Smith, Schache, Tomlinson, Brown & Hunter. That would be 6 players we have to replace and we usually take 2-3 players at the draft.

We have won backs to the wall games in the past, where we are given no chance.

Lions would be odds on for this game and hopefully we can get under their guard and get a win.

4 hours ago, chook fowler said:

send Carrie to him and give the lad some learnings.

What could Ashcroft possibly teach Clarrie?

 

3 hours ago, middleagedemon said:

Brisbane's last three scores for. 

152 points against Port. 126 points against St Kilda. 114 against the Dogs

We managed 70 against North Melbourne. I'll repeat. 70. With no goals in the last quarter. The team in the bottom of the ladder. 

Offensively, we are no match and the Midfield comparison is terrifying. 

Brisbane put on 55 points from scores from stoppage for the first three quarters against Port. They won clearance by 15 and won the inside 50's 71-46. All of this at Port Adelaide. 

Brisbane's DNA hasn't changed, they're a stoppage, clearance and contested machine of a midfield with one of the most potent, dangerous and dynamic forward-lines in the AFL which is humming atm.

Our numbers? 

We are -4 in contested ball against sides this year. 

We are the 4th worst clearance side in the comp. 

We're the 3rd worst team in the comp in scoring on turnover. 

It's mind-boggling that some think we're in with a chance against this side on current form. If we get within 35 points, I'll be astonished. 

But this could be an easy 50+ loss and that is the more likely scenario. 

Thats how I felt on Monday but I always  manage to find confidence from somewhere by game day. So today we’re within 4 goals.

Some really happiness in here. I'll be there and am fully expecting to sing It's a Grand Old Flag around 10:15 tomorrow night.

Have almost given up worrying about the result. Mostly interested in how the young ones go.

GREAT NEWS…

The lights are working at the ‘Gabba.

For now, anyways 😜

This time there won’t be a 40-minute singalong to Sweet Caroline & Take Me Home, Country Roads.

Hashtag get some more songs, Gabba!

 

4 hours ago, poita said:

Melksham isn't part of the future. If we're not playing finals, he shouldn't be playing at AFL level again (other than a farewell game if he wants one). 

Agree.. all this talk about Melksham being the saviour of the club is ridiculous. 

The only way we can win this game is to turn it into an absolute slog.

If it is a shootout the Lions will easily outscore us. We need to be at our defensive best to have a chance.

Not confident, but sometimes it's nice just watching the footy with no expectations!

3 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

FWIW Melskham should be a lock in the side after 1-2 games in the VFL provided he has adequate AFL standard fitness. I don't care if he's 35 or whatever, the club still needs to put out a competitive product week to week, and Melk will surely assist here.

Our forward line is crying out for natural forwards. With all due respect to Petty and Turner, they are not natural forwards while our most natural forward is way off the boil atm. Hence we're battling to kick 70 points against the Norths and West Coasts of the league.

He looks the fittest he has ever been (apart from the obvious injury) but has said that he will come back with a couple of games at Casey. After being out of the game for so long even training doesn't give you the match fitness that is required now. He would be a great inclusion to the forward line not only for his ability but because of his football nous. During his time away recuperating he has been on the bench during games talking with the forward line players when they come off.

If he doesn't get another contract for 2025 maybe we have a coach in waiting.

5 hours ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

He trains fully. Has been for a while now. I’ll be shocked and disappointed if they make him come back through Casey. 

Fritta will want to find some form and fast

Melky would be so important next year I reckon, especially with the young forwards we're looking at bringing in.  He's one of our best and I hope he plays next year.

12 minutes ago, Oxdee said:

Agree.. all this talk about Melksham being the saviour of the club is ridiculous. 

🤔 Hmmmm, not seeing anyone here saying Melksham is the saviour of the club. Unless of course you’re confusing that with ‘I hope Melksham’s back soon’, for example.  Easy mistake to make, they do sound almost identical, right?

14 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

Fritta will want to find some form and fast

Definitely. It’s been several weeks now with no sign of improvement 

4 hours ago, middleagedemon said:

Brisbane's last three scores for. 

152 points against Port. 126 points against St Kilda. 114 against the Dogs

We managed 70 against North Melbourne. I'll repeat. 70. With no goals in the last quarter. The team in the bottom of the ladder. 

Offensively, we are no match and the Midfield comparison is terrifying. 

Brisbane put on 55 points from scores from stoppage for the first three quarters against Port. They won clearance by 15 and won the inside 50's 71-46. All of this at Port Adelaide. 

Brisbane's DNA hasn't changed, they're a stoppage, clearance and contested machine of a midfield with one of the most potent, dangerous and dynamic forward-lines in the AFL which is humming atm.

Our numbers? 

We are -4 in contested ball against sides this year. 

We are the 4th worst clearance side in the comp. 

We're the 3rd worst team in the comp in scoring on turnover. 

It's mind-boggling that some think we're in with a chance against this side on current form. If we get within 35 points, I'll be astonished. 

But this could be an easy 50+ loss and that is the more likely scenario. 

Yes the stats suggest we’re no chance.

But on the scoring point, St Kilda scored 106 against them a fortnight ago at the Gabba. 

They’d averaged 60 points for in their five previous games (which included playing West Coast, Hawthorn, Gold Coast in Melbourne, and us - hardly a tough run given what you’ve said about us).

2 hours ago, Redleg said:

We have won backs to the wall games in the past, where we are given no chance.

Lions would be odds on for this game and hopefully we can get under their guard and get a win.

I hope this is right. 

They were 1-3 when we first played, looked completely out of sorts. We were 4-1 and humming off the back of our Adelaide fortnight. 

Our clubs have a strong recent rivalry. They got themselves up for that game. Think Rayner going berserk but barely firing a shot the rest of the season.

This is the first time in a long time we’re rated no chance by anyone other than a few on here. We’re complete underdogs. I would love for us to use that “hunter vs hunted” mentality to our advantage. 

I don’t think we will win but I do think we can surprise many with our performance. 

5 hours ago, poita said:

Melksham isn't part of the future. If we're not playing finals, he shouldn't be playing at AFL level again (other than a farewell game if he wants one). 

I disagree, we’re playing plenty of kids as it is, if he’s fit and firing he should absolutely play

37 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

Fritta will want to find some form and fast

Needs to just work hard, the rest falls into place eventually if you have the talent which he does

Just now, Pennant St Dee said:

Needs to just work hard, the rest falls into place eventually if you have the talent which he does

As @DeeSpencer has very fairly been saying for weeks, he isn’t working hard enough, and that’s the problem. 

I hope that realisation has set in. With our forward line, we can’t afford for Fritsch to not impact games. 

4 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

As @DeeSpencer has very fairly been saying for weeks, he isn’t working hard enough, and that’s the problem. 

I hope that realisation has set in. With our forward line, we can’t afford for Fritsch to not impact games. 

He will be getting shown footage of his efforts by the forwards coach, last weeks footage would be horrific. Whether coming in ill or not he just refused to give any effort 

Sometimes a statement needs to be made

Edited June 27, 2024Jun 27 by Pennant St Dee

5 minutes ago, Pennant St Dee said:

Needs to just work hard, the rest falls into place eventually if you have the talent which he does

Pretty much exactly what Goody had to say. Needs to bring his energy and pressure game back and the rest will follow. 

On 25/06/2024 at 09:13, layzie said:

I'd take that each week. 

Midfielders, bombing = little game play for Chandler other than what he picks up on the side with extraordinary efforts. Lowering eyes from the midfield, Chandler gets space, gets goals.